Dad came through for a visit, so we could go together to watch the beautiful steam locomotive Sir Nigel Gresley paying a visit to Edinburgh’s huge Waverley Railway Station

Built in the 1930s, this is an A4 Pacific mainline locomotive, very powerful and fast (its sister loco, Mallard set the world speed record way back in the 1930s, hitting 126 MPH – obviously modern high-speed trains go far faster now, but it still retains the record for the fastest steam engine). They also boast this magnificent “streamliner” casings, partly about aerodynamics, partly drawing on the Art Deco style of the period. Like a few other transport designs, such as the Jaguar E-Type, I think it is a design which manages to be very much of its era and yet somehow also quite timeless.

Cabin crew leaning out to talk to the crowd on the platform

A perspective shot, to give an idea of the sheer size of this steel beast